BILL NUMBER:S4657

TITLE OF BILL:

An act
to amend the public authorities law, in relation to procurements by the
New York city transit authority and the metropolitan transportation
authority

PURPOSE:

This bill would extend for four years statutory provisions that allow
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York
City Transit Authority (NYCT) to procure goods and services in ways
that save time and money and allow NYCT to consider, in certain
cases, New York State-content when procuring subway cars.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections one and two of the bill would amend Public Authorities Law
(PAL) § 1265-a(1) and 1209(6) to extend the sunset of various
procurement rules from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2015.

Section three of the bill would provide for an immediate effective date.

EXISTING LAW:
              

PAL § 1209 (applicable to NYCT) currently has a sunset date of June
30, 2011 for subdivisions 7 through 13, and PAL § 1265-a (applicable
to MTA) currently contains a sunset date of June 30, 2011 that
applies to the entire section.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

The applicable provisions of law have been extended, for various
periods of time, by prior legislation. See Chapter 135 of the Laws of
2008; Chapter 136 of the Laws of 2005; Chapter 745 of the Laws of 2004;
Chapter 334 of the Laws of 2001; Chapter 256 of the Laws of 1998;
Chapter 637 of the Laws of 1996.

STATEMENT IN SUPPORT:

Extending the sunset dates for PAL §§ 1265-a and 1209 will permit MTA
and NYCT to continue to use procurement methods, such as competitive
Requests for Proposal (RFP), that are critical to procuring complex
systems and major construction contracts. MTA and NYCT use
competitive RFPs on projects that require extensive dialog with
proposers prior to the completion of contract terms and pricing. RFPs
are useful for projects that incorporate new technology such as
rolling stock, communications, signaling systems and communication
based train control.
Continuing innovations in these fields require the flexibility
provided by the competitive negotiation
that is not available when employing sealed bidding. Many of the new
products will be used to improve MTA's and NYCT's ability to monitor
passenger facilities and react to emergencies. RFPs allow the MTA


and NYCT to evaluate the products that best meet project requirements
by accepting proposals from suppliers and then determining the
merits. If the existing provisions of the statutes are not extended,
MTA and NYCT would be forced to procure these projects via sealed
bidding - a method that provides no room for evaluating the
innovative and complex products that would best meet the needs of the
public, If the agencies were limited to the sealed bidding method
they would effectively be precluded from procuring these new
technologies.

This extension will also allow NYCT to continue to procure subway cars
by competitive RFP rather than sealed bids. When such procurements
are not federally funded, New York State-content may be one of the
criteria for selection of the awardee.

This extension would also allow MTA to consider a party's status as a
Minority and Woman owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) as one of the
criteria for selection of the awardee.

This extension will also allow MTA and NYCT to continue using
Qualified Products Lists (QPLs), which permits various materials,
supplies, and equipment to be standardized to achieve efficiency,
economy, compatibility, and/or maintenance reliability. Placing an
item on a QPL allows MTA and NYCT to quickly obtain critical
material and equipment that meet exact specifications.
When all item is placed on the QPL, only pre-qualified products of
specified manufacturers may be offered in response to bids for that
item. Items on a QPL generally require extensive testing to determine
that they will be compatible with existing equipment and/or be able
to withstand the rigors of the subway environment. For example,
NYCT has determined that it requires as much as a year and-a-half to
identify hidden defects in subway car wheels. Without
pre-qualification, it would be almost impossible to assure a
consistent supply of wheels if the agency must take the time required
to both test and procure a required product. Pre-qualification also
permits MTA and NYCT to carefully review suppliers' manufacturing
and quality control procedures to ensure the safety of our
passengers. The use of pre-qualified product lists also provides
savings in the operating budget because it enables MTA and NYCT to
standardize maintenance materials and equipment to ensure
compatibility thereby reducing the amount of material that must be
purchased and held in inventory and reducing the amount of
maintenance work that must be performed.

Finally, this extension will maintain the existing threshold above
which MTA and NYCT must solicit purchases via sealed bids at
$15,000. If this law were not extended, the threshold would revert to
$10,000. Permitting the threshold to be reduced would delay certain
MT A and NYCT procurements due to the additional administrative
requirements of procuring by sealed bid.

This legislation will effect a critical extension that will ensure
that, among other things, that NYCT can continue to properly
negotiate procurements and to use QPLs. Extending the current
statutes to June 2015 will allow the MTA to use consistent
procurement methods throughout its 2010-2015 capital program.


BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

This bill has no budgetary implications, but will offer cost savings
to the MTA and NYCT.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This bill would take effect immediately.